Artemis Fowl: The Death Revenge
by Cattie V
Summary: Artemis Fowl's first year at Hogwarts is anything but easy when he becomes the target of a revenge driven ghost's fury. Only with the help of some unexpected friends can he hope to make it through the year alive…and in one piece. First installment in the Hogwarts Years series.
1. The Journey to Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: Hi, everyone! I would just like to take the time to say that (alas!) do I not own the rights to either **_**Artemis Fowl**_** or **_**Harry Potter**_**, but I will be borrowing the characters/settings for a while. **

**Author's Note: I would like to extend my thanks to my wonderful beta FoxGlade! You rock! **

Chapter 1: The Journey to Hogwarts

Artemis Fowl II was by far the least ordinary boy in all of Europe, if not the world. For one thing, he had the highest recorded IQ, a fact that he was all too aware of. For another, he was ridiculously wealthy. For as far back as anyone could remember, the Fowls had been the richest family in Ireland. Most of the family's wealth had been obtained illegally, but that never bothered them in the least. But most importantly of all, like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before him, Artemis was a wizard.

For most of time, the Fowls had been a powerful, but Muggle (that is, non-magical) family. Then one day, young Amicus Fowl had received a strange letter and an even stranger visitor telling him that he was a wizard, and was invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And the rest was history. Within a few generations, the Fowls were as well known in the Wizarding world as they were in the Muggle criminal underworld.

And now, Artemis Fowl II, great-grandson of Amicus Fowl, stood on Platform 9 ¾ with his parents, Artemis Fowl I and Angeline Fowl, waiting to board the Hogwarts Express which would take him to the school he had known he would one day attend since before he could even talk. Angeline, with tears in her eyes, hugged him fiercely. "Be a good boy, Arty. Make lots of friends!"

Artemis, attempting not to roll his eyes, settled for a simple nod instead. "Of course, Mother." He decided not to bother reminding her that "friends" were not something he had a lot of experience making, and that he didn't need any. Most kids his own age were hopelessly stupid and what, Artemis wondered, would he want anyone like that around for?

His father merely clapped him on the back. "Remember, Artemis. You are a Fowl. Your family has a reputation to maintain. Make me proud, Son."

"I will, Father," Artemis replied, just as the train's whistle sounded, the signal for students to start boarding.

"Oh, do you have everything?" Angeline fussed. "Your books? Your robes? Apollo?" Apollo was a brown and golden owl that he had gotten in Diagon Alley the previous week when they had gone to get his school supplies. Artemis had never had a pet before and had never really been interested in getting one, but had given in to getting an owl when his mother had pointed out how useful they were.

"Yes, Mother," said Artemis, sighing. He pointed to the cage that was stacked on top of his trunks. "She's right there."

Apollo was indeed a she. She had gotten her name because Angeline had thought that it would be cute. Artemis and Apollo. That was, of course, before she had realized that Apollo was a girl and then had wanted to change it, but Artemis kept the name. After all, it was only fitting. Wasn't he a boy named Artemis? So why not a girl owl named Apollo?

Artemis hurriedly said his goodbyes and boarded the train. It was packed full of other students, so Artemis had to maneuver around them to try and find a compartment…preferably one that was empty. He finally found one after five minutes of searching.

He had just gotten his trunk and Apollo put up and taken a seat next to the window, when, to Artemis's disappointment, the door opened and two boys entered. They were obviously brothers, they had the same sandy blond hair and wide grey eyes. But that's where the similarities stopped. The taller of the two, Artemis guessed he was about two years older than he was, had the build of an athlete and walked with a confidential swagger. The other was short, and, while not overweight, was certainly flabby and his pale face was covered with acne. He looked like he was about to trip over his own feet at any moment. He was also, at the moment of their entrance, picking his nose.

With his attention fixed on his finger and his brother's on him, neither noticed Artemis. "Will you please stop that?" the older asked, letting out an exasperated sigh. "It's so disgusting!"

"Mummy said…" the younger began in a pouty, whiny voice that made Artemis dislike him immediately.

"Mum didn't say you could pick your nose," the older brother interrupted. He rolled his eyes and caught sight of Artemis. "Oh, hello." He suddenly looked embarrassed. Giving Artemis a weak smile, he took a seat across from Artemis, his brother seating next to him.

The train lurched as it began to move. Artemis peered out of the window and caught sight of his parents waving at him from the platform. Artemis waved his own hand in greeting before they were at of sight.

"I'm Trouble Kelp," said the older of the two brothers, calling Artemis's attention back to his companions, "and this is my little brother Grub." Grub grunted in greeting and Artemis was pleased to see that he had stopped picking his nose.

Now, Artemis would be the first to say that he did not possess a sense of humor. Humor was, in his not so humble opinion, of no practical value whatsoever, and as such it was a waste of his time and energy. Thus, no one was more surprised than Artemis himself when he laughed. "Trouble and Grub? What ridiculous names!"

Grub scowled, but Trouble actually smiled. "Well, Trouble is actually just a nickname. I'm not telling you what my real name is. It's too long and hard to pronounce. But unfortunately for his guy," he jerked this thumb at his brother, "Grub is his real name. Apparently our parents were stupid enough to let me name him…and I was only two at the time."

Artemis couldn't help thinking that when he was two, he knew all the Periodic Table by heart, but even though Artemis was not naturally a humble person, some instinct told him that now was not the best time to mention that.

"So, what's your name?" Trouble asked.

"Artemis Fowl," Artemis answered simply, waiting for the reaction he was sure his name would incite. He was not entirely disappointed. Trouble's eyes grew wide and Grub's pale skin grew even paler.

"Trouble," Artemis detected a hint of fear in Grub's voice, "maybe we should find another compartment."

"Don't be ridiculous," Trouble said, quickly regaining his composure. "We're not going anywhere."

"But Mummy said you were supposed to look after me," Grub said in what Artemis guessed was his version of a whisper but was loud enough that Artemis did not have any trouble hearing him.

"Good grief, Grub!" snapped Trouble. "Stop being such a baby. Besides, Artemis seems decent enough. I don't think he's going to hurt you."

"What do you mean, 'decent _enough_'?" Artemis asked quietly.

"Nothing," Trouble answered a little too quickly. Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I…I mean…well, you know…one does hear rumors and…well, from what we've heard, I expected you to be different…"

"I see," said Artemis coolly. Trouble winced and Grub trembled slightly, but neither spoke; Artemis did not feel like talking much anymore after that and the rest of the trip past in relative silence, which was broken only by Grub's snores after he fell asleep fifteen minutes later.

Artemis had just decided that he had had enough of this when Trouble spoke, "We should probably change into our robes now."

Artemis nodded and rose without a word, reaching for his trunk. "Grub," Trouble hissed, attempting to shake his brother's head loose from his shoulder where it had fallen, "wake up! We need to change."

Grub groaned and as he lifted his head, Artemis saw that he had drooled over Trouble's shoulder while he had been sleeping. _Nice_, Artemis thought, disgusted.

He pulled his robes out of his trunk. "I'm going to change in the bathroom." Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door and entering the hall of the train, he closed the door behind him. He turned to search for the nearest bathroom and bumped right into someone.

That someone was the largest boy Artemis had ever seen. He had to have been at least a foot and a half taller than Artemis himself. He wasn't fat, but broad and he looked like he could easily have picked Artemis up and ran the length of the train with him under his arm without breaking a sweat. He had black hair and judging from his facial features Artemis guessed that he was Eurasian.

"Oh, sorry." The boy smiled sheepishly then entered the compartment across from the one Artemis had just vacated.

Artemis stared after him for a minute (he wasn't even sure why) before heading towards the front of the train where he found a bathroom and slipped inside. He held up his robes and stared at them for a moment. He had never liked wizard clothing. It had always looked so silly and ridiculous to him. Most Muggle clothing was a waste as well. He always preferred his suits. Sighing, he realized that he had to put on the robes and he was just wasting time. So, with great reluctance, he put them on.

Artemis was surprised to find that he didn't look as bad in them as he had dreaded. They were not a match for his suits by any means, but they were, he realized better than he had expected. He had just come to this conclusion when the train came to a stop.

_We're here, _he realized. _I've arrived._ This was it. All his life, Artemis had known that this moment would come, and now that it was here, Artemis felt a surge of excitement. He hurried from the bathroom to find the hallway already full of students. He had to shoulder his way through back to the compartment for his things.

Trouble and Grub were leaving just as he arrived, both of them had changed into their robes while he was gone. "Don't worry about your trunk and owl," Trouble told him. "They'll be taken to the school for you."

Artemis wordlessly nodded and followed the two brothers off the train. No sooner were his feet on solid ground than he heard a voice shouting, "First years! Over here, first years!" He turned to see a rather unpleasant looking man with olive skin and eyes as black as night and hair to match them waving his hand in the air to get the attention of Artemis and his soon to be classmates.

"You'd better get going," Trouble said. "He hates to be kept waiting." Without another word, he walked away and joined a friend that was waving at him. As soon as he was gone, Grub quickly put some distance between himself and Artemis.

Artemis was glad to see the back of both brothers and hurried to join the group of first years that was beginning to gather around the man, who looked ever more unpleasant from up close. His face appeared to be in a permeant scowl, and Artemis quickly got the impression that he didn't like his job.

Once other students had joined the group and he was sure there weren't any more first years coming, the man spoke. "Listen up. My name is Briar Cudgeon and I'm the Game Keeper at Hogwarts." He spit on the ground as he spoke. He gestured to the lake behind him, which Artemis hadn't even notice before. There were several boats moored up on the shore.

"These boats will take us to Hogwarts. Now get in! No more than four to a boat, mind." Artemis followed the crowd and found himself seated in a boat with the large boy he had ran into earlier, a boy with dark skin and an afro, and a girl with short auburn hair and hazel eyes. None of them spoke, but the large boy smiled when he recognized Artemis.

As soon as all of the boats were full they began to move forward without a word from anyone. Out of the corner his eye, Artemis saw the girl's eyes grow wide with wonder and realized she must be a Muggle born if such a little thing as boats moving on their own was enough to get her excited.

As the boats silently glided through the dark water of the lake, Artemis felt a sudden chill and wrapped his arms around his torso to get warm. "Look!" shouted the girl, suddenly pointing ahead. Artemis followed the line of her finger. Up a head, he could see the lights of the castle. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

The large boy leaned forward to get a better look, but the sudden shift in weight caused the boat to slant, this caused the girl, who happened to be sitting next to Artemis, to crash into him, knocking them both over the side of the boat.

The water was freezing and Artemis wasn't quite sure whether it was that or the fall that knocked the air out of his lungs. He gasped for breath and caught side of the girl only a few feet away. "What was that for?" he yelled, angrily.

She looked around and caught sight of him. "Excuse me?" she asked, perplexed. "What was what for?"

"Knocking me out of the boat," he spat, feeling far from charitable towards her.

A look of upmost disbelief crossed her face. "Are you serious? That was an accident!"

"An accident that you caused!"

"What!? I didn't cause the boat to tip! Do you think I want to be out here in the freezing cold water?"

"Well, I don't know!" Artemis shot back. "Do you?" She glared at him and moved as far away from him as possible. Now, deep down, Artemis knew that he was being ridiculous. He knew better than anyone the laws of physics and knew that there was nothing she could have done to prevent either of them from being thrown overboard once the boat had begun to tip the way it had. Yet, being wet and freezing cold was making him irritable and extremely irrational.

"Here!" Artemis and the girl looked to see the large boy holding his hand out to help them back into the boat, which most have someone realized that two of its passengers had been thrown overboard as it had stopped moving.

The girl reached him first. The boy pulled her back into the boat as if she weighed nothing at all. "Sorry about that," he said as he helped Artemis in.

"It's alright," the girl said, attempting to squeeze water out of her hair and back into the lake. "It was an accident after all." She glared in Artemis's direction as she spoke. Artemis merely glared back.

"You should have seen the looks on your faces when you went in!" the boy with the afro said, speaking up for the first time. "Priceless!" He chuckled. Artemis and the girl simultaneously turned their glares on him, but he didn't seemed faze in the slight as he continued to grin and chuckle to himself.

The boat moved forward again and as Artemis turned his back on the chuckling afro boy, he saw that they were now behind the other boats. The cold was seeping into his bones and Artemis did a quick mental check to make sure that he was not coming down with hypothermia and figured that he would be alright. That didn't make him any less uncomfortable though. _The sooner we get there, the better_.

Next to him, the girl's teeth were chattering. She had her arms around her torso and she was shaking. _Serves her right_, Artemis thought, angrily. _Can't this boat go any faster?_

The next five minutes felt more like a hundred and even though Artemis knew he wasn't going to freeze to death, part of him began to panic. Artemis was normally not an edgy, panicking person, but the cold was messing with his mind and he knew it.

After what felt like an eternity, the boat reached the shore. "At least," the girl said through chattering teeth. "What I wouldn't give for a warm fire!" Artemis completely agreed, though he was still too angry at her to say so.

They disembarked and Artemis saw that the other students were already half-way to the castle. He heard someone clear their throat and turned to see that it had been the large boy. "Do want me to carry you?" he asked, looking back and forth between the girl and Artemis.

"No, thank you," said Artemis quickly. He may be cold and in a hurry to get warm, but Artemis had his pride. He was a Fowl after all and it would not due to be seen arriving at the school in the arms of another boy.

"Thank you, yes," said the girl. Artemis snorted, but she ignored him. The boy smiled at her and knelt down, offering her his back. The girl quickly put her arms around his neck and he straightened. She giggled.

The boy took off at a brisk run, leaving Artemis and the afro boy to have to try and keep up. Artemis was not used to exercise of almost any kind and was quite winded by the time they arrived at the castle and were lead inside.

The other first years were standing near the foot of a staircase when Artemis and the others arrived. The large boy had just put the girl down when a woman with silver hair and piercing blue eyes appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Her voice was warm and soft. She smiled down at them all as if she personally knew each and every one of them and was pleased to see them. "I am Professor Vinyáya. In a few moments, I will lead into the Banquet Hall where each of you will be sorted into your houses."

Artemis inwardly groaned. He had completely forgotten about the sorting. With that and the banquet that followed, Artemis realized it may be several more hours before he would able to get out of his wet, cold clothes and into something dry and warm. From the look on her face, Artemis guessed that the girl had realized this and he was torn between being delighted that she would have to suffer for a few more hours and the agony of his prolonged suffering.

"There are four houses," Professor Vinyáya continued. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

"How will we be shorted?" a boy asked and Artemis realized that it was Grub. Several people perked up at the question and looked excitedly at the professor, eager to hear her answer.

Artemis understood their curiosity. There hadn't be much his parents had denied him, but any request for information about Hogwarts and how it operate had been shut down quickly. He had also been forbidden from studying any magic prior to attending Hogwarts. They had reasoned that they wanted him to have the full Hogwarts experience and didn't want him getting ahead of the others students before he had even set foot there, not when his intellect already gave him an advantage. It was a rule that he had grudgingly obeyed. But now the wait was finally over. Here he was at Hogwarts and he was finally going to learn all he could about magic.

Professor Vinyáya merely smiled. "Just wait and see," she answered. "Now, if you will follow me." She turned and slowly started walking down a hall, away from the stairs. Students began to hurry up the steps after her. She walked slowly allowing them to catch up.

Once they had, she turned to face them. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she caught sight of Artemis and the girl, both of whom were still dripping wet and shivering with cold. She must have guessed what had happened for she smiled sympathetically and with a small flick of her wrist, Artemis and the girl not only were suddenly dry, but warm.

Then, proceeding as if nothing had happened, she cleared her throat. "Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts!" The doors behind her were thrown open revealing a long room filled with four tables at which sat the rest of the school. Above each table, hung a banner and Artemis recognized the emblems of the four houses; the lion of Gryffindor, the badger of Hufflepuff, the raven of Ravenclaw, and the serpent of Slytherin. The only thing his parents had revealed about Hogwarts had been the houses, what they each stood for and what their emblems were.

Professor Vinyáya led Artemis and his classmates to the front of the room where a fifth table stood on up on a dais. Seated at this table were several witches and wizards and Artemis realized that they must be the Head Master and the rest of the teaching staff. In front of this table, stood a single stool on which lay an old, patched hat.

Professor Vinyáya approached the stool and gestured to the hat. "This is the Sorting Hat. It will sort you into your houses."

Several of the other first years stared at the hat in confusion, but before any of them could speak, a seam near the top of the hat opened, and the hat began to sing.

_Welcome one and all, staff, students old and new._

_I am the Sorting Hat and I speak words only true._

_Hogwarts houses four there are, you will soon find._

_So, dear friend, let not that trouble your weary mind._

_Gryffindor, there is, a house for those brave of heart._

_Perhaps here you will find a home and a fresh start._

_Hufflepuff, the house for those of you who value loyalty._

_Be not afraid, my dear, for here you'll be treated like royalty._

_Ravenclaw, the house of those who think they're very clever._

_Weclome! Here you'll find you'll be adored and praised forever._

_Slytherin, the house of those with many a great, lasting ambition._

_Here, making you succeed will be our most blessed mission._

_So, welcome to Hogwarts, my weary travelers all._

_I hope you will have much fun and joy this fall._

_So take a seat and see what I will say._

_You will be blessed, come what may._

A round of applause broke out from the four house tables as well as from the table where the staff were seated. The hat seemed to incline itself in what Artemis guessed was a bow and then it fell still.

"I don't get it," Artemis heard afro boy whispered to the girl.

"You put the hat on and it tells you which house you belong in," she whispered back.

Professor Vinyáya stepped forward and pulled out a scroll of parchment from her robes. "When I call out your name, please come forward, sit on the stool, put the hat on, and then go to whichever house table that it tells you to." She cleared her throated and began to read off names.

"Alberts, Gwen." A squat girl with a pug nose and crooked teeth came forward. She sat on the stool, placed the Sorting Hat on her head and waited.

"Slytherin!" A cheer erupted from the Slytherin table as Gwen place the hat back on the stool and went over to join her fellows Slytherins.

"Butler, Domovoi." The large boy that had been in Artemis's boat awkwardly hurried forward. The stool barely contained his bulk and the hat his head.

"Hufflepuff!" Another cheer, this time from the Hufflepuff table.

Several other names were called, but Artemis barely paid attention to them and what houses these students were put into. Then… "Fowl, Artemis."

Dead silence descended on the hall as every head in the school turned to look. As he walked forward, he heard whispers.

"Fowl? As in _the _Fowls?"

"Well, he certainly looks arrogant enough to be a Fowl."

Artemis paid no attention. He picked up the hat and sat down on the stool. Then he placed the hat on his head. Silence. Then there was, suddenly, a voice inside his head. _Ah, a Fowl. I was wondering when I would get another one. Hmm…let's see…well, you certainly are one bright boy. I see you have already decided where you belong. Yes, yes. I do think you are right. That is best._

"Ravenclaw!"

As the Ravenclaw table burst into a cheers, Artemis saw several looks of surprise both from students and teachers. He understood it at once. Unlike, Artemis, who had known he was going to be in Ravenclaw since he was four years old, his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all been in Slytherin. No doubt everyone had expected the same of him.

_Artemis Fowl, breaking the mold,_ he thought as he went and sat down at the Ravenclaw table next to a boy will light brown skin, dark rimmed glass, and buck teeth. The boy shook his hand and introduced himself, "Chandan Dash, but everyone calls me Foaly."

"Nice to meet you," Artemis said politely. A cheer went up from the Gryffindor table as another student was sorted.

"Kelp, Grub." As the younger of the two brothers that Artemis had met on the train made his way to the stool, Artemis spotted Trouble seated at the Gryffindor table. He was staring at his brother intently and he had, Artemis noticed, his fingers crossed.

"Hufflepuff!" As the Hufflepuff table cheered for its newest member, Artemis saw Trouble let out a sigh of relief and Artemis smiled as he realized that Trouble was glad is brother wasn't in the same house as him. Artemis could not blame him in the least. _If I had a brother like that,_ he thought, glad that he was an only child.

He turned to Foaly. "How common is it for siblings to end up in different houses?" he asked.

The older boy shrugged. "Not very, but it happens often enough that I wouldn't call it rare." He looked from Grub to Trouble. "This is the first time I've seen it happen though, but then again this is only my second year here."

Cheers went up from various tables during the course of this conversation, including a few from their own. When Artemis's attention was recalled back to the front of the room, he saw that there were only a handful of students left.

"Short, Holly." The girl from the boat came forward. Now that he was no longer wet and freezing cold, Artemis found that the warmth had restored his rationality and that he was no longer angry at her. It had been, after all, simply an accident. But Artemis was proud and though he could now look at her without anger, he felt nothing but indifference toward her and had no desire to apologize for having been rude earlier.

A full minute passed before the hat spoke. "Gryffindor!" As the Gryffindor table cheered, the girl, Holly, went and sat down next to Trouble Kelp.

"She's kind of cute," mused Foaly, staring at Holly with interest. Artemis raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply.

A few more names were called and more cheers erupted from the tables, and soon there was only one student left: afro boy.

"Verbal, Chix."

As Chix put the hat on his head, Foaly snorted. "Chix? I wonder what his parents were thinking when they named him that."

"Well, it is better than Grub at any rate," Artemis pointed out and Foaly chuckled.

"Yeah," he agreed, "any name is better than Grub."

"Gryffindor!"

Chix happily made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Holly who looked anything but pleased to see him.

The man seated at the center of the staff table rose. He was an elderly, gruff looking man who looked like his face might explode at any moment. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" He seemed to almost bark the words. "I am Head Master Julius Root. You will address me as Head Master or Head Master Root. Under no circumstances are you allowed to call me Julius." He glared in the direction of the Ravenclaw table. "I'm looking at you, Foaly."

Foaly merely smiled and waved at the Head Master, who ignored him. "This is a reminder to all students that the dark forest is off limits at all times. Now, enjoy your food and eat!"

Artemis looked at the table to see that food and appeared out of nowhere. There were all kinds of food, pasta, potatoes, rice, meat, vegetables, fruit, etc. You name it, it was there. It wasn't until Artemis saw all the food that he realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since breakfast earlier that morning.

Helping himself to a plate of salmon, Artemis looked back up at the staff table. "Who are all the other teachers?" He asked Foaly.

Foaly swallowed a bite of steamed carrots before answering. "Well, you've already met Professor Vinyáya. She's the head of Gryffindor House and teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts." He looked up at the table and started pointing at the teachers. "The one on the right of Julius is his older brother, Turnball. He's the head of Slytherin House and teaches Potions. On Julius's left, is Timothy Lovell, but we all call him No. 1 cause he's so cool. He's the head of Hufflepuff and teaches Charms. On his left is Elias Qwan. He's the head of our house and teaches Transfiguration."

He pointed to a very old looking man seated to the right of Turnball Root. "That's Felipe Cartwright. He's like over a hundred and teaches History of Magic." He pointed to a woman seated next to him. "And that's Madam Chang. She teaches Herbology." He shrugged. "The rest, I don't know. They teach upper level classes that I haven't taken yet."

The rest of the meal passed in silence for Artemis. He was too busy eating and thinking to talk much. Foaly must have sensed that because he didn't speak again. Once the meal was finished, Head Master Root stood back up. "Now that you've all been feed. It is time for bed! Prefects, lead your houses to the dorms."

As Artemis stood, he noticed a petite Asian girl staring at him from the Slytherin table. She had a hard, calculating look on her face and Artemis, though he could not have exactly said why, felt uncomfortable. "Who is that?" Artemis whispered in Foaly's ear, subtly jerking his head in the girl's direction.

Foaly looked and then frowned. "That's Opal Koboi," he whispered as they and the rest of Ravenclaw House left the Banquet Hall. "I guess who could say that she's my rival," he resumed in a normal tone of voice once he was sure Opal was out of ear shot.

"I wonder why she was staring at me," Artemis wondered as they headed toward what Artemis figured from what he could recall was the west tower.

"She probably was just disappointed that you weren't in Slytherin," said Foaly with a snort. "She's pretty much the queen of Slytherin House. I bet she would have just loved to have a Fowl to do her every bidding."

"That would never have happened," said Artemis, flatly.

Foaly shrugged. "Tell that to Opal. Ah, here we are."

Artemis saw that they were standing in front of an ornate wooden door. The knocker was in the shape of an eagle. Even as Artemis caught sight of it, it began to speak.

"What brings about the end of all things?" it asked.

"Time," answer a fifteen year old boy that Artemis guessed a prefect.

"Correct," the eagle knocker replied and the door swung open.

"The other houses require passwords to enter," Foaly explained to Artemis as they passed through the door. "We only have to answer a riddle."

Artemis frowned. "But wouldn't that make it easier for members of other houses to get in?"

"If they are clever enough," admitted Foaly.

Artemis saw that they had entered a large circular room with book selves lining the walls and decorative chairs stood next to wooden tables.

"The girls' dormitories are to up the stairs to the right," announced the same boy who had answered the riddle, pointing to two sets of stair cases towards the back. "The boys' dormitories are on the left."

Artemis followed Foaly up the stairs. When they reached the top, Artemis saw that there were seven rooms, each labeled with a number, one through seven. "Well, it was nice meeting you," said Foaly. Then without waiting for a reply, he entered the door labeled with the number two.

Without hesitation, Artemis entered the room with the number one. There were a total of five beds inside. He spotted his trunk and Apollo, who greeted him with a soft hoot. Artemis went over to her and opened his trunk.

He quickly got changed and hurried into bed. He didn't wanted to put off having to meet his new roommates for as long as he possibly could. He closed his eyes. It had been a long day, but the promise of tomorrow shined bright and strong.

**Author's Note: Phew! That turned out to be much longer than I had expected it to be. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please, please, review!**


	2. The Adventures Begin

**Author's Note: Hi, guys! Sorry for the wait, but I am a part time college student. So don't expect a new chapter every week. Again, I'd like to thank my beta, FoxGlade! Also, to the guest who asked about the fairies and their role in this AU, all the fairies are human in this story. There are no undercover fairies. Hope that clears that up! And now without further ado…chapter 2!**

Chapter 2: The Adventures Begin

Artemis woke bright and early the next morning; he wanted to explore the castle as much as possible before breakfast and to delay meeting his four roommates for as long as he possibly could. He dressed quickly, but quietly, and silently descended the stairs to the common room, which he was pleased to see was empty except for himself.

He spent five minutes studying the titles of the books on the shelves before heading towards the door that led out of Ravenclaw Tower. However, he had barely slipped out of it and into the hall when he got the distinct impression that he was being watched.

It was not at all a pleasant feeling, and Artemis felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end and a slight shiver passed over his body. He looked down the hall in both directions, but saw no one. He was indeed alone as far as he could tell, but the feeling persisted.

Artemis was not a coward; but not because he was particularly brave or anything, but rather, because he was logical. Fear was often irrational, it made you act and behave in a way that went against all rules of logic. It messed with your mind. Thus, Artemis pushed fear aside. He was hardly ever afraid.

But this was one of those rare occasions, where even Artemis's logic could not help him. He didn't just feel like he was being watched, but being watched by someone with ill intent, someone who very much intended to do him harm.

He was just about to turn and head back into the common room to escape it, when he heard the sound of footsteps heading in his direction from the way that which he and the other Ravenclaws had come the previous night. The ominous feeling of being watched instantly vanished.

Artemis had only a brief moment to wonder whether the sound of someone approaching had scared whomever had been watching him away, when the owner of the footsteps rounded a corner and came into view.

It was the large boy, Domovoi Butler, and he stopped when he caught sight of Artemis. "Oh, hi."

"What are you doing here?" Artemis asked. "Are you lost?"

Domovoi shook his head. "No. I'm a morning person. I figured I'd explore the castle for a while before breakfast. What about you?"

Artemis gestured towards the door to the Ravenclaw common room. "Ravenclaw Tower is through there," he explained. "I was going to do some exploring myself actually."

"Great!" Domovoi smiled. At least, Artemis thought it was a smile; it was rather hard to tell. "Then let's explore together."

Artemis hesitated. Normally, he would prefer to be alone, but he could not easily forgot the feeling of being watched that he had experienced only moments before. In the end, he decided that being alone was not the best idea at the moment.

"Alright," he said. The two boys took off down the hall, heading in the direction that Domovoi had come from. "How much of the castle have you explored already, Domovoi?" Artemis asked.

The other boy looked surprised that anyone, let alone a Fowl, could have remembered his name. "Please, call me Dom or Butler. Only my parents call me Domovoi and I hate it even then."

Artemis thought that Dom sounded too casual and too friendly, so he decided to stick with the boy's last name. "Very well then, Butler. How much have you explored already?"

If he was disappointed that Artemis had chosen to call him by his surname instead of his nickname, Butler hid it well. "Not much," he admitted as they passed the doors that led to the Great Hall. "I've only been up for about half an hour."

An ear splitting shriek echoed across the walls and Artemis instinctively covered his ears. Butler did the same. They waited a minute or two after it had died down before removing their hands. "What was that?" Artemis asked.

Butler shrugged. "One of the castle ghosts, perhaps?" Ghosts? Was that what had been watching Artemis earlier? Perhaps. The thought didn't make him feel any more comfortable about the situation.

"Butler, how many ghosts are there at Hogwarts?" he asked as they made their way down to the dungeons.

"Well," said Butler, thoughtfully. "I know there is one for each house, but there are others as well. I'm not sure how many exactly."

The dungeons were dank and cold, but they weren't what made Artemis shiver. He had known about the existence of ghosts for as long as he could remember, but they had never scared him before. Indeed, he had never really given them much thought, but now he was determined to find out all he could about them and why one would seek to do him harm.

"What are you two doing down here?"

If you had asked Artemis, he would have no doubt claimed that if his mind had been on his surroundings and not on ghosts, he would have noticed the speaker long before he even spoke. Butler, whose mind was on the surroundings, however, would have said that the boy was so well hidden in the shadows that neither he nor Artemis noticed him until that moment.

Then the boy stepped into the light, they saw that he was short and squat. He had a puffy face and looked like the type of person who always had something in his mouth. In fact, he was munching on a cake even now.

"We're exploring," Butler answered.

"Exploring?" The boy snorted. "Not much to see down here, is there?"

"Then why are you down here?" Artemis asked.

"Because I'm in Slytherin and our common room is down here, genius." He rolled his eyes. "I'm Mulch, by the way. Mulch Diggums. And who the bloody hell are you two?"

Mulch? Artemis thought. Seriously? First Trouble and Grub, then Chix, and now Mulch. Why did so many of these kids have such stupid names?

"I'm Domovoi Butler and this is Artemis Fowl," Butler said.

If Mulch Diggums was impressed at meeting a Fowl, he sure didn't show it. He smiled, showing a mouth full of filthy teeth. Artemis grimaced at the sight. "Nice to meet ya." He cocked his head to the side as if listening for something. "We better go up. It's almost breakfast time." Without waiting, he hurried forward and bumped it Artemis. "Excuse me." Then was gone.

Artemis and Butler exchanged glances and then turned and headed back the way they had come. It wasn't until they were seated at breakfast that Artemis realized something. "My wrist watch is gone!"

He got sight of Mulch Diggums at the Slytherin table. The boy winked at him. "He stole it," Artemis gasped in disbelief. "Mulch Diggums stole my wrist watch!"

Despite the rough start, the rest of the day, indeed the rest of the week, passed beautifully. The lessons were even easier than Artemis had imagined. His intellect allowed him to grasp the concepts with such ease that the teachers were all impressed by his aptitude and by the end of the first day had already gained a rather large amount of points for Ravenclaw.

The teachers were, in general, very kind and patient. They were, Artemis was pleased to see, quite passionate and knowledgeable in their given fields. They, for the most part, were quite good at not playing favorites. They treated each student fairly and equally and Artemis respected them for it.

Artemis's favorite teacher was undoubtedly the one Foaly had labeled as No. 1. He certainly was that. While the rest of the staff certainly were smart, No. 1 was the only one Artemis could label as a genius. His cerebral prowess so closely matched Artemis' own that both he and the professor had found a profound intellectual challenge in each other.

There was only one teacher that Artemis did not like at all: and that was Turnball Root, the Potion's teacher. Professor Root seemed to be forever affronted that his little brother had been made the Head Master and not him and continually took out his frustrations on his students. He was the only teacher who was not impressed by Artemis's intelligence and even once called him a "cheeky boy."

As for his fellow students, Artemis soon learned that Ravenclaw did not differentiate between students who thought they were clever and weren't, and students who truly were intelligent. Ravenclaw was for those who valued intelligence, whether or not they actually possessed it.

Of his roommates, whom Artemis finally meet the morning of his second day, there was only one whom Artemis could even remotely call clever. The other three were decidedly idiots. The former was a tall, constantly sickly looking boy called Caleb Wells. The others were Zeke Bradley, Augustus Hillman, and Peter White.

In all of Ravenclaw, the only one whose intellect even came close to matching Artemis's one was Foaly. During free times in the Ravenclaw common room, Artemis and Foaly often found themselves debating about the merits of certain classes and the downfalls of others.

Other than Foaly, Artemis soon learned that the next most intelligent student in the school was undoubtedly Opal Koboi. She and Foaly were bitter rivals and Artemis soon learned from older students that conflicts between the two could often get nasty.

Another of Artemis' discoveries was that Mulch Diggums was indeed a well-known kleptomaniac, and was quite infamous for it. Unfortunately, he had never been caught stealing and the items that he took were never recovered nor found in his possession. Thus, he had never been expelled.

It wasn't until the second week that Artemis finally met his match in a class. It was the one subject that had completely slipped his mind and even had it not, he would have not have been looking forward to it. So when, on the morning of his second Wednesday at Hogwarts Artemis found himself outside with the rest of the first years staring at a collection of brooms, he found that he wished he were back in bed.

Artemis had never been on a broom in his life, despite his parents' (particularly his father's) best attempts to persuade him. He knew that flying took more than smarts. It required a certain athleticism that he decidedly lacked. Artemis exercised his brain, never his body.

Still, his pride demanded that he give it a try. He would not allow himself to remain on the ground, looking like an utter fool, while the rest of his classmates where in the air. So try it he did…and he still ended up looking rather like a fool. He had barely gotten a foot off the ground, before came crashing down with a hard thud.

Artemis expected laughter, for the others to amuse themselves with his failure. But much to his surprise, and great relief, it never came. For no sooner had he hit the ground, when he heard Hildegarde Bradshaw, the old stumpy witch teaching the lesson, exclaim, "Why Miss Short! You haven't even touched your broom."

Artemis and the rest of the class turned to see Holly Short staying at her broom with a look that could only be categorized as sheer terror. It took Artemis only a moment to understand it. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?" Holly mutely nodded.

The laughter Artemis had expected now came at the expense of Holly. Students hooted and roared. Most were even pointing fingers at her, and she began to cry. "Can you believe it?" someone bellowed, and Artemis recognized Grub Kelp's voice. "A Gryffindor? Afraid?" He laughed harder than anyone.

"Leave her alone!" a deep voice growled and Artemis was surprised to see Butler glaring hard at Grub, who turned pale and instantly quit laughing.

"Come now, my dear," said Hildegarde kindly, "it's not that bad." As she spoke, she attempted to lift Holly up and put her on the broom. Holly shrieked and pulled away. Her face was now streaming with tears and her breathing was labored. She looked like she was about to pass out at any moment.

"She's having a panic attack," Artemis noted. At the confused look on Hildegarde's face, he added. "She should go to the hospital wing." He smiled as he thought of something. "I'll take her."

He spoke, not out of any real concern for Holly or out of any valiant heroism, but rather a desire to get out of the flying lesson and not having to repeat his disastrous attempt.

Hildegarde hesitated. "Alright. You take her to the hospital wing. You seem to understand what's happening with the poor girl better than I do. You'd be able to explain it to Madam Pomfrey better than I could, most likely."

Without another word, Artemis took Holly by the arm and began to lead her back into the castle. She barely even seemed to notice that they were leaving the field and brooms behind. Her entire body continued to shake. Artemis hoped she wasn't going to pass out. He didn't think he'd be able to care her the rest of the way to the hospital wing if she did.

Hoping to keep her conscious, he began to talk to her, to calm her down. "It's alright, Holly. We're leaving the brooms. We're almost to the hospital wing. One foot in front of the other. That's right."

By the time they reached their destination, Holly's breathing had normalized, but she was still rather pale and she was still shaking from head to foot. Madam Pomfrey, who was seated at desk reading what looked like a journal about St. Mungo's, looked up when they entered. She took one look at Holly and came rushing over to them.

"My dear child, what's the matter?" she demanded kindly. Holly shook her head, indicating that she didn't feel like talking. Madam Pomfrey turned to Artemis.

"She had a panic attack," he told the matron, wondering if he would have to explain what that was, but Madam Pomfrey seemed to understand at once.

"I see. Come here, child." She gentle led Holly over one of the bed and had her lie down. "We often get students with panic attacks, but they usually occur later in the year, end of term exams and all that. What caused it?" she asked, looking to Artemis again.

"She's afraid of heights and we had our first flying lesson today," he explained.

"Ah, that would do it," said the matron. "Here." She handed Holly some type of medicine. "Drink this. It will help calm you. And then I recommend some sleep." Holly obeyed. The matron turned back to Artemis again.

"You may go now," she told him. Artemis nodded and turned to leave, but just as he opened the door to do so, he heard a small voice call after him.

"Thank you, Artemis."

Surprised, Artemis looked back to see Holly staring back up at him with big eyes and a small smile on her face. Something about the sight caught at his heart and made him realize that he had only helped her for the wrong reason. He simply nodded and slipped out the door.

He knew Hildegarde was probably expecting him to return to the lesson after dropping Holly off, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. So instead, he turned and walked in the opposite direction, back towards Ravenclaw Tower.

He had almost made it to the common room, when he felt it. The feeling he had experienced the previous week. He had completely forgotten about it in the rush and excitement of lessons, but it came rushing back to him now all too clearly. Someone was watching him. Someone wanted to harm him.

Not caring where he was going, Artemis turned and fled back down the hall. The feeling continued to follow him. He had barely made it more than a dozen or so yards when he suddenly fell. He didn't know if he had tripped on something or if something had tripped him, but that moment he didn't care. He had half gotten to his feet when he suddenly felt unusually cold, colder even than he had been when he and Holly had fallen out of the boat the previous week.

Shivering, he curled into a ball. He tried to open his mouth to call for help, but the only sound to come out of it was the sound of his teeth chattering. Then, for a brief instant, he saw a face. A glowing, transparent face. Then all was dark.

**Author's Note: Review, review, review! I cannot ask this enough of you. **


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